Mezzetta Partners with Linqia to Grow US Market Share through “Power-Middle” Influencers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (PRWEB) AUGUST 23, 2016 – Linqia, the first performance-based influencer marketing platform, today announced the results of its 2015 influencer marketing program with Mezzetta®, the #1 producer of glass packed olives and peppers. The program’s results reveal that Linqia’s pay for performance model and focus on “power-middle” influencers is delivering truly influenced consumers for the CPG brand, reaching 13.1 million consumers as part of a broader initiative to increase US market share.

Mezzetta, whose marketing strategy emphasizes authentic content to support their brand values, partnered with Linqia to create an influencer marketing program designed to reach a wider audience by tapping into hundreds of power-middle influencers across the United States. Power-middle influencers, defined as everyday people who have organically built a social following of between 10,000 and 250,000 people, created original blog posts, recipes, photos, videos, and social content featuring Mezzetta products, inspiring readers to visit the brand’s landing pages where they could enter Mezzetta’s seasonal giveaways and access coupons.

The program returned 4.5x the total media value of Mezzetta’s investment and resulted in nearly 7,500 pieces of original content, which attracted a pool of consumers primed to be highly interested in Mezzetta products. The audience, influenced by the opinions of everyday people they trust, engaged with the content 1,063% more than the program goal.

Linqia’s influencer marketing programs provide long-term value as they continue to drive traffic even after their conclusion. Because the content from Linqia influencers is evergreen, it stays in the stream of online conversations and continues to surface in organic search results. To date, program content has driven over 33% additional clicks to Mezzetta’s landing pages.

“Linqia influencers are one of the top sources of quality traffic to our promotional pages,” says Rajiv Doshi, Mezzetta’s director of digital marketing. “We recently sent an email survey to a list that was created through Linqia’s influencer marketing program and got a 50% response rate, which is unheard of for a list that was built through a promotional incentive.”

Most influencer marketing providers charge per post, which means there is no guarantee that the advertiser will get the results they are looking for. Linqia is unique in that its pricing model is Cost-per-Click (CPC), so brands only pay for consumers who have taken an action because of the influencer content.

“We believe that authentic, influencer-generated content is the key to successful advertising in today’s social media landscape,” says Maria Sipka, Linqia’s co-founder and president. “Only 1% of Millennials trust brand-created ads, which spells trouble for the brands and agencies who spend millions of dollars on expensive ad buys. The most effective way to tap into consumer buying power is through content that was created by the people that they trust the most – their peers.”

In addition to growing Mezzetta’s database with engaged consumers, the program doubled the brand’s library of product photos. Linqia influencers simultaneously populated the Mezzetta Pinterest page with fresh content, generating nearly 1,200 original recipe pins which consumers pinned to their own Pinterest boards over 48,800 times. As part of Linqia’s influencer marketing programs, Mezzetta can repurpose the influencer content on their paid and owned social channels without the hefty price tag associated with celebrity or top-tier influencers.

About Linqia
Linqia’s turnkey influencer marketing programs are guaranteed to deliver concrete business results. Linqia is the easiest way to inspire action with your target audience, reaching today’s consumers through authentic, influencer-generated content. Our performance pricing model means you only pay for consumers who have developed an emotional connection with your brand and have taken an action as a result. As programs continue to run over time, the Linqia platform identifies the best performing content and enables you to amplify it through social and native advertising, reaching “look-alike” consumers with content that has been proven to deliver results.

Founded in 2012, Linqia works with over 200 leading national brands including Black & Decker, Gerber, Herdez, JP Morgan Chase, Kimberly-Clark, Mezzetta, NBC, Nestle, Purina, Samsung, Unilever, Viacom and Walmart. Linqia is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in Chicago and New York City.

About Mezzetta®
America’s favorite brand of glass-packed peppers and olives, Mezzetta® sources the finest fresh produce from around the world and prepares it according to their authentic family recipes. Founded in 1935 by Giuseppe Luigi Mezzetta, his great-grandson, Jeff Mezzetta, now runs the company from the Napa Valley on the same principles of authenticity, integrity, and consistency that his family pioneered nearly 80 years ago. Share the joy and get inspired at mezzetta.com.